We see our customers taking a similar approach. Why? The reality is that today’s typical organization (small, medium or large) has existing business systems – the so-called legacy investments. They contain really important information like customer data that takes time to transition to cloud (if it’s transitioned at all). That’s where hybrid cloud comes in.

Incremental Approach
Hybrid Cloud allows CIOs to take a pragmatic step-by-step approach. Clearly, it makes sense for new projects to use Cloud where possible. The benefits – particularly when it comes to speed and agility – are too great to ignore. But cloud-based projects/apps are less useful if they can’t access information in those pesky legacy systems. The obvious solution is integration a.k.a. Hybrid Cloud. For example, our customers integrate from frevvo’s public cloud to their internal LDAP systems for authentication. They’re deploying cloud-based forms and approval workflows that work with existing SQL databases. A new project like automating an internal purchase requisition approval can be done quickly without great development expense in the cloud while still using critical data that’s sitting in existing systems. That’s just smart.

The company starts realizing benefits in weeks rather than gains that won’t materialize for 5 years.

Senseless Vendor Policies
Recently, we got a nasty surprise from Salesforce – access to our data using their API is metered and extremely limited.

That’s ridiculous. No wonder customers want to control their data and deploy hybrid cloud strategies. The benefits of Cloud IaaS are flowing to Salesforce not customers.

Multiple Cloud Apps
No matter what Oracle says, the reality for most organizations is that no single Cloud vendor will provide every service they need. An obvious requirement then is to integrate data/applications between clouds. Sounds like Hybrid Cloud to us.

Persistent Security Worries
Unfortunately, customers are leery of cloud security. While many of these concerns are unfounded and are based on misconceptions, it’s not easy to let go of your critical data. After all, that’s what makes your business your business. Hybrid cloud allows you to take a staggered approach and keep your data where you’re comfortable managing it while still deploying modern apps that reap the benefits of increased productivity and agility.

The role of the CIO and the IT department continues to change towards brokering services rather than building systems. Cloud simply doesn’t happen overnight and, meanwhile, CIOs must manage existing systems that run the business today. Hybrid cloud allows them to take a sensible incremental approach to re-shape the existing infrastructure over time while still delivering real business benefits in a timely manner.